Deal with the Devil
by Netsu Miji
Summary: Rukia never saved Ichigo's family, so Ichigo makes a deal with Aizen to join him as a hollow and the loss of his memories in exchange for the protection of his family. His life in Hueco Mundo leads to his meeting with the hollow Lisa and befriending his fellow arrancars. IchixLisa.
1. Chapter 1

The young orange-haired boy watched in terror as the enormous creature grabbed his sisters and hung them over its gaping mouth. "Ichigo! Help!" yelled Karin as the creature lowered her to its mouth. "Hold on!" he yelled as he ran toward the monster and jumped into the air, and effectively landing a kick to its face, cracking it's large mask. It dropped the two girls and stumbled into the neighboring house. Ichigo landed and tumbled onto his back. He turned to his two sisters "Go! Get out of here!" he yelled. They obeyed and ran down the street along with their father.

Ichigo stood up and faced the monster. The creature got up and looked directly at him, Ichigo grinned at the thing "Bring it." he said plainly. Suddenly a white figure appeared out of nowhere and sliced the creature in two. Ichigo looked in shock and awe as the monster fell to the ground and faded away. Two other figures appeared, they were people, each carrying swords. One of them had brown hair and a pink sash around his waist. The other had silver, gray hair and a disturbing smile. The other appeared african, with purple hair and a visor.

The man with brown hair walked up to him and spoke "You seem to have a lot of potential. You would be a valuable addition to my army. If only you were a hollow, hmmmm..." the man thought to himself. He gestured his hand at Ichigo "My name is Sousuke Aizen. Let me get straight to the point, I have noticed that you have immense potential and I would like to present an offer." he said as Ichigo took his hand and stood up. "Yeah, what's this deal?" he said in response.

"To put it simply," Aizen continued "I would ask you to become a part of my army, in another form however. But in return, I will give your family a remedy that will keep these creatures, otherwise known as hollows, away from your family permanently."

Ichigo thought about it for a moment. He thought back to the creature that threatened to eat his sisters. Aizen put his hand out "So do we have a deal?" he asked. Ichigo hesitated, but he finally shook Aizen's hand "Deal.", "Excellent.", Aizen pulled out a bag. He grabbed Ichigo and they all flash stepped near Ichigo's family. Aizen opened the bag and glowing dust floated towards them. It gently landed on them and took its place in their souls.

"Now any hollow that comes near them will be repelled by their scent." Aizen said as the dust disappeared. Ichigo looked at Aizen "So how does this work?" he asked as Aizen turned around. "Simple." he replied putting his hand on Ichigo's forehead. He lightly pushed and Ichigo's body fell to the ground and his soul stood before Aizen.

Ichigo looked at the chain in his chest with interest "What the hell is this?" he asked as he studied the chain carefully. Aizen took the chain in his hand, "This is the only thing standing between you and joining my army. Once you've evolved enough, I will search for you and your initiation will be complete." with that Aizen yanked the chain and it tore a hole in Ichigo's chest.

Enormous spirit pressure emitted from Ichigo as his skin turned into a hard hierro. Claws grew from his fingers and his feet turned to two large claws and one small claw on the heel on each foot. A mask with sharp teeth and blood-red markings along the right side of the face.

Aizen's eyes widened in surprise of the boy's, now hollow, spiritual pressure. He swiped his hand across the air and a garganta opened. Ichigo now instinctively walked through the rip in space into Hueco Mundo.

The hollow's feet touched the soft sand of Hueco Mundo. He scanned the vast desert. There was almost no life. He spotted three hollows. One had a bull-like body, another had a basic, purple body with a spiked mask and the last had a diamond shaped mask with a cross shaped crevice in it that revealed her eyes.

The bull-like hollow and the purple hollow attacked the diamond-masked hollow. She was far too weak to take them both on by herself, or either one for that matter. Ichigo sonidoed to the diamond mask hollow, she stumbled back and fell to the ground. Ichigo grabbed the purple hollow and impaled him onto the bull hollow's horns. He thrusted his claws deep into the bull's throat.

The diamond masked hollow trembled in fear as she watched the blood drip off of the tips of his claws. Ichigo turned to look at her. She shook in fear, but she bowed on her knees. She spoke in a weak and trembling voice, "Please, make it quick.", Ichigo looked at her with pity. He picked her up and brought her to her feet by her under arms. She looked at him in confusion and shock. He picked up the dead hollows as he asked, "What's your name?".

She hesitated at first, but she finally answered, "M...My name is Lisa." she said as he dropped the bull-like hollow in front of her. She looked up at him, "What's this?" she asked as he sat down with the dead purple hollow, "You need to eat, or else you won't get anywhere." he responded as he took a bite out of the hollow's arm. Lisa was still confused, though she still sat down and took a bite out of the hollow. Ichigo looked at Lisa, he noticed that they were similar, both of them had humanoid body figures, and their hair was normal, not mane-like or wild. She had dark hair and wore it in a braid.

After the finished their meal, they decided to rest in the sand together. "I'll stay awake and keep guard." Ichigo declared as Lisa lied down. Lisa sat up and looked at Ichigo with dagger eyes, "Wait a minute, why should I trust you? How do I know if you won't just consume me in my sleep." she asked. Ichigo looked back at her, "Why would I do that? That's far too cruel for anyone to suffer." he countered.

Lisa was shocked, yet again, by him, "Your not like any other hollow. Your not cruel, or heartless. Why?" she asked crawling toward him. "I don't know. I guess it was what I was like in my human life." Ichigo said as he tried to remember what he was like, even though he only became a hollow hours ago. Lisa suddenly realized something, "Hey, you never told me your name." she said lying back down.

"My name is... its... I don't remember." Ichigo said as he rested his chin on his hand. Lisa couldn't help but think of over a million names, but she found one that stuck out to her, "How about...Ichigo?" she asked in a cheerful tone. He looked at her with a smile that could be seen behind his mask "Ichigo. I like it, it has a ring to it." he said with a joyous tone.

It had been 7 months since Ichigo and Lisa became partners. Ichigo helped her learn to use her powers and and evolve along side him. Most hollows respected them and often pointed out that none had ever seen vasto lorde that have no remnants of their masks, however Lisa still had remnants of her mask that resembled glasses. Ichigo though had no remnants of his mask.

Ichigo and Lisa noticed a large group of hollows and a skeleton with large purple robes, and a gold crown on his head. "Should we check it out?" asked Lisa. Ichigo glanced at the crumbled building remains and the skeleton, "Sure, why not? It's not like we've got anything else to do." Ichigo said as he began walking toward them. Lisa followed closely behind, admiring her master's beautiful face. She often thought of what might have happened if he hadn't come along that day.

Chances are she wouldn't be alive right now.

Sorry for rushing it a bit at first. Next chapter, Ichigo and Lisa make some friends.


	2. Chapter 2

Ichigo walked toward the group of hollows, Lisa following closely behind. As they approached, they found an enormous hollow at the front of the crumbling building, "Stop there.", the hollow demanded. They stopped at his feet and looked up at his face. His mask looked like a lizard skull and had bright red hair jetting out the back. "Are you here to join lord Barragon's army?" he asked looking down at the two arrancar. "Sure, I guess you could say that." Ichigo responded.

The hollow moved to the side and let them through. Lisa leaned next to Ichigo and whispered into his ear "Do you really know who this guy is?", "No, but I'm sure its the dead guy up there." Ichigo responded, pointing at the skeleton. They walked passed an army of hollows, though they thought it said that they alone could kill them all. They stopped at the stairs and looked up to the throne. The skeleton shifted his head and looked down at them, "Who are you, and what business do you have here?" it said. Ichigo's and Lisa's eyes widened as he spoke, "Huh, what do you know? It talks!" Ichigo said in a cocky, surprised voice.

"Speak you worms." Barragon demanded. Ichigo walked up the stairs to the throne. Two hollows stopped him in his tracks, "That's far enough." one said pointing his bladed arm at him. Ichigo raised his brow in interest, and began giggling, and then started laughing until his side hurt. The hollows looked at him in confusion, "What's so funny?" said the hollow with the bladed arm. Ichigo calmed himself, "You...you actually think... that you can hurt me!" he forced himself to say as he laughed.

The hollow's eye twitched, "You shut your mouth!" he yelled and lunged at Ichigo. Ichigo swiped his hand across the hollow's body, slicing him in half. Lisa shuttered at the familiar sight of blood dripping off of his hand. Barragon watched the two halves of the hollow seperate. He looked at the orange-haired arrancar before him. "Hmph... hmph hmph... heh heh heh... Hah ha ha ha ha ha ha!" the crowned skeleton laughed in amusement of the arrancar. "Something funny?" Ichigo asked Barragon.

"You... are the only person that dare attack my forces in years. I dare say that I like your audacity." Barragon said standing up. "Why, thank you." Ichigo said jokingly as he took a bow. Lisa giggled at his act, putting her hand up to her mouth. Barragon swung his arm and a large axe, even bigger than Barragon, appeared. Barragon gripped the handle "That is why I wish to challenge you to a duel to the death!" he declared. Ichigo looked up at the axe, it had a red jewel near the center, "Nice axe, now what's this about a duel?" he said plainly.

Barrgon put out an angry aura, "As amusing as it is, your audacity is beginning to become annoying! Now die!" he yelled swinging his axe down. It crashed into the ground, sending rubble and dust into the air. It cleared and revealed Ichigo sitting on the axe's handle with his sword drawn. "My turn." he said punching Barragon in the face, sending a crack down the side of his skull. Barragon stumbled back and caught his balance.

Barragon put his hand to the side of his head and looked at the small woman behind Ichigo. He grinned and threw his ax at Ichigo. Ichigo looked at the ax as it flew by, "You missed." he said looking back at Barragon. Barragon grinned again, "I wasn't aiming for you." he said. Ichigo went wide-eyed and looked behind him, seeing the ax heading straight for Lisa.

"No!" Ichigo yelled as he sonidoed in front of Lisa. Her eyes were wide as she watched the blade of the ax get buried into Ichigo's arm, causing him to wince in pain. He had an infuriated look on his face, he took the blade out of his arm and swung it at Barragon, hitting him with the broad side of the blade. Barragon was sent flying into the staircase, sending rubble flying everywhere. Ichigo held out his arm and dropped the ax. He walked up to the rubbled staircase and saw Barragon, the left side of his head destroyed.

Lisa walked by Ichigo and put her hand on her sword. Ichigo grabbed her arm and stopped her. She looked up at him and saw the serious look on his face, so she let go of her sword. "Yes, a good leader finishes his business, not his lackey." Barragon said loking at them, Lisa ignored his insult, though she frowned at him. Ichigo let go of his scowl and sheathed his sword, "No, I'm not going to kill you." Ichigo said turning back to the entrance.

Barragon and Lisa looked at Ichigo as he walked, "What?! Why not? Don't you think he deserves it?!" Lisa yelled at him. Barragon looked at Lisa, "I agree with the girl, why not kill me?". Ichigo looked at all of the hollows that gathered around the skeleton-like hollow, "These hollows, they all look up to you to guide them, without you they'd all be lost and dead, much like others I've met on my journey.", he said looking over to Lisa, "I could never kill someone that people would be lost without, unless they'd be better off without them." he finished and walked away, Lisa following him close behind.

"Wait,", Barragon said to them, they stopped and looked back, "What is your name?" he asked. "Ichigo... Ichigo Kurosaki." Ichigo answered and continued to walk away.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, from this day forth I declare you my ally and only better." Barragon declared, Ichigo grinned as he walked. After they left the building Lisa looked up at Ichigo, "You never cease to surprise me, you know that? And I know that you were talking about me when you mentioned lost and dead hollows.", "Yeah I know." Ichigo said. He stopped and turned to her, she stopped and looked back at him, "What's wrong?" she asked. Ichigo wrapped his arms around her neck and embraced her. She looked at him in surprise, "What the? Uh... um." she said as she decided to return his embrace.

He released her and looked down at her, "What was that for?" she asked with a clear blush on her face. "I just wanted you to know that I care about you." he responded, walking into the vast desert. She smiled and followed behind him.

-3 months later-

Ichigo sat next to Lisa's sleeping body, guarding her and admiring how beautiful she looked with the light glistening off of her hair. She shook a little and and eventually shook herself awake. Ichigo crawled next to her and put a hand on her shoulder, "What's wrong?" he asked worriedly. She looked over to a large black hill to her left. "Can you feel that spiritual pressure?" she asked looking at the black hill. She stood up and ran toward the hill, "Hey, wait!" he yelled at her as she ran. He stood up and took off after her. He could feel the spiritual pressure that she was so interested in.

He finally caught up with her on top of a dune. She was staring at the hill, but it wasn't a hill, it was a huge pile of dead hollows. Ichigo looked at the sight, scanning the hollows. He looked at the bottom of the hill and saw a man and a young girl. Ichigo raised his brow in interest and slid down the dune, leaving Lisa at the top of the dune. He reached the bottom and walked closer to the man and girl.

"Uh, hello?" he said, causing them to turn to him. Lisa came down the hill and closed in behind Ichigo. "Who are you?" the man asked, "My name is Ichigo Kurosaki and this is Lisa." Ichigo said putting a hand on Lisa's shoulder. "Is that right? Well you can call me Coyote, and you can call her Lilinette." the man responded, "You must be pretty damn strong if you can withstand my spiritual pressure." Coyote said, Ichigo looked at the pile of dead hollows, "So that's how they all died."

"Yeah, Its hard to make friends when anyone who gets near me dies." Coyote said looking back at the pile of dead hollows. "Huh, well in that case what do you say we team up?" Ichigo asked putting his hand out to Coyote. Coyote looked down at Ichigo's hand. Lisa looked at Ichigo, "Are you serious, we don't even know what he's like." she said to him. He ignored her and continued to hold out his hand, "Well?" he said staring at Coyote.

Coyote looked at Ichigo's hand once more and put his hand out to meet his and shook it "Sure thing." he said smiling. Lisa sighed and put her hand up to her face and shook her head, "Oh well, I guess I should have expected something like this from you." she said to Ichigo.

Ichigo smiled as he shook the hand of his new ally. Now he had a new ally to explore the sands with.

For those who are wondering how Lisa became a hollow, it will be revealed in due time. Please review, I just love learning how to do better.


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry it took so long for me to update. I've been working on other stuff, as some of you may know. Anyway, here's chapter 3.

"Ichigo, wait up!" Lisa said as she stumbled up the sand dune trying to catch up to Ichigo and Starrk, who was carrying Lilinette on his shoulders. Lisa hadn't been very capable lately, she couldn't even climb very well and Ichigo was wondering why. She finally caught up after a minute and a half, which was five times as long as it usually took her.

"Are you okay? You need any help?" Ichigo asked as she walked next to him. He noticed that she was sweating and shaking lightly.

"No, I'm fine. A little tired, but fine." she said walking past the two arrancar. Ichigo simply shrugged it off and followed her along with Starrk, catching site of Barragon's forces.

They ran for the King of Hueco Mundo and skidded to a stop at his feet, "Ah, Ichigo my friend. How goes your exploration of Hueco Mundo?" the skeleton asked.

"Fine, but boring. Have you seen anything worth checking out?" Ichigo asked, anxiously tapping his foot.

"Settle down, jeez, are you addicted to excitement? Anyway, some of my men did mention a large tree due south." Barrragon answered, causing Ichigo to get confused.

"The hell is so exciting about a tree?" he asked.

"Only one returned alive and mentioned a powerful arrancar nearby it before he died. Oh, and before you leave, there have been recent sightings of soul reapers in Hueco Mundo, so do me a favor and kill them for me." Barragon said to Ichigo, lazily resting his head on his fist.

"Who said I take orders from you?" Ichigo asked crossing his arms and grinning at Barragon.

"Like you said, THAT IS AN ORDER!" Barragon shouted.

"I thought you said I was your better." Ichigo said aggitatedly

"I never said that. And besides, you owe me for the chunk of my skull you destroyed." Barragon responded plainly as he pointed to the side of his head.

"Yes you di-! Oh forget it. Let's go guys, maybe we can catch up with this arrancar!" Ichigo said excitedly as he began running south.

"Don't start running Ichigo, you know I prefer to walk." Starrk yelled as Ichigo continued to run. Starrk gave an annoyed sigh, "Why do I even bother? Come on Lilinette." he said to himself as he put Lilinette down and began running after Ichigo.

Lisa panted slightly and ran with the group. She knew something was wrong with her, she just didn't know what. _"I'm already tired. But why? I'm getting sweaty. Well, its not that bad. Maybe I'll get over it later."_ she thought, reassuring herself.

A few minutes later, Lisa tripped over nothing and landed in the sand, dragging her face along the ground for 10 feet. Starrk and Lilinette stopped to check on her, though Ichigo didn't notice and continued moving, "Hey, Ichigo! Get your ass back here!" Starrk yelled, which caused Ichigo to skid to a halt and turn back to the rest of the group and saw Lisa picking herself off of the ground.

Ichigo ran back and knelt down in front of her as she sat on the ground, "How about now? Do you still think you're okay?" Ichigo asked sarcastically.

Lisa glared at him with dagger eyes, which caused even Ichigo to feel terrified, "I wouldn't mind if you helped me a little." she said, still glaring at him.

"Alright then, come on." Ichigo said as he lifted her onto his back. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. Ichigo chuckled and petted her head. They continued walking, which Starrk appreciated, "Hey, Lilinette, you haven't said anything for a while now. Is there anything you have to say about this?"

Lilinette looked up at Ichigo in surprise, "Huh? Well I think Barragon could put some more meat on his bones." she said, causing Ichigo to burst out laughing. He looked up to see no sign of a large tree yet.

Ichigo gave and aggitated sigh, "I'm starting to think there is no tree or arrancar." he said to everyone as he scanned the area, "How are you holding up Lisa?"

"I'm doing alright." she responded as she sleepily hugged his neck.

"Would you mind if I let you down for a while? You're a bit heavier than you think." Ichigo said, earning him a strong punch to the back of the head, "Okay. Not the best thing I could have said." he added as he rubbed the back of his head. He looked up again and saw some small shadowy branch-like shapes in the distance, "A ha! There it is!" Ichigo cheered as they continued toward the tree.

They all slid down a dune of sand and stopped at the bottom. They gazed at the enormous white tree in awe. There were visible hole throughout the tree that seemed to have been artificially made, like someone made them. Ichigo walked up to the tree and put his ear to it. He knocked on it and could hear echoes bouncing throughout the inside, "Its hollow." he said backing away from the tree.

"Its an interesting tree, but where's the arrancar?" Starrk complained, causing Ichigo to look back in surprise.

"Starrk, I didn't think you were the type to be disappointed about missing out on a fight." Ichigo said as he crossed his arms and grinned at Starrk.

"I'm not! I just don't like being lied to. And why do you keep grinning at people like that? Is that your thing or something?" Starrk shot back.

Suddenly a green cero burst out of the side of the tree and zoomed past Ichigo as he leaned to the left to dodge it. A pale man with black, short hair, green eyes and green tear-like markings going down the sides of his face and remains of a mask that resembled a half of a helmet with a horn on the left side of his head walked out of the hole left by the cero.

"Ow! That's hot!" Ichigo yelled commenting on the burn that the cero left on his right arm as he turned to view the man, "So you must be the arrancar that lives around here. Appearently in the tree." he said as he studdied the arrancar.

"Leave this place or die here. The choice is yours." the arrancar said pointing his finger at Ichigo and charging a cero. Ichigo simply smirked as he looked at the arrancar.

"I think I'll stay. That's a choice, right?" Ichigo said mockingly. He put Lisa down and walked toward the man, who took the liberty to fire the cero at Ichigo's head.

Ichigo simply sucked the cero in and turned his head to the left and let out a breath that shot the cero that the arrancar fired. The arrancar was wide-eyed as he saw how easily the orange-haired arrancar deflected the cero. He charged at Ichigo and aimed his fingers at Ichigo's chest, only for his arm to be caught by Starrk.

"Hey! Don't interrupt our fight!" Ichigo complained as the arrancar struggled to escape Starrk's grip.

"Just stop toying with him. I say we kill him." Starrk suggested as Ichigo took his hand off of the arrancar.

"There's no point in killing him. We could use him." Ichigo said turning to the arrancar, "What do you say? Would you care to join our little family?" he asked the arrancar.

The arrancar made a confused face as he looked at Ichigo, "You mean join your alliance?" the arrancar asked.

"Uh, yeah. I guess you could say that." Ichigo said as he held his hand out.

The arrancar studdied Ichigo carefully as he thought about the offer, "Hmm... Perhaps I could gain something from following you for a while." he said as he finally met Ichigo's hand with his and shook it.

Ichigo smiled as they shook hands, "Excellent! My name is Ichigo, and he's Starrk. What might your name be?" he asked as their hands parted.

"My name is Ulquiorra." he responded as he noticed the black-haired woman attempting to stand, "Is there something wrong with the girl?" Ulquiorra asked as he watched Lisa swaying slightly and finally collapse out of exhaustion.

Starrk and Ichigo walked over to her and shook her gently to wake her up, "She's not budging." Starrk said as he looked up at Ichigo.

Ulquiorra walked toward the two and knelt down, "It may be because of Starrk's wild spiritual pressure. It's intensity may be causing stress on her body." he said as he studdied the girl.

"Huh, should've guessed. Well Starrk, looks like I have to teach you to get a hold on your spiritual pressure." Ichigo said.

-5 days later-

It took a while, but Ichigo finally taught Starrk to control his spirit energy, "Well then, now that that's settled, let's get going shall we?" Ichigo said as the group began walking, and Lisa finally being able to walk normally. Ichigo looked back and saw that Ulquiorra simply stayed next to the tree, "Ulquiorra, come on we're going." he said, Ulquiorra simply stood there.

"I refuse to leave this tree." he said plainly as Ichigo walked back to him.

"Why don't you want to go?" Ichigo asked as he glanced at the tree.

"This tree intrigues me with it's emptiness. It has been my home for a long time." he said as he walked into an entrance at the base of the tree. Ichigo followed as he saw that the tree had been hollowed out by years of aging.

"Hmm... Then maybe we can make this our base, yes?" Ichigo suggested as he scanned the inside of the tree.

"Exactly what I was about to say." Ulquiorra said as everyone else followed them inside.

"It'd be better than sleeping on the dirt." Starrk said as he scanned the area.

"Then its settled. This is our new home!" Ichigo said as he spread his arms in joy, "Now next on the list, time to hunt some soul reapers! But lets wait 'till tomorrow, because I'm tired." he declared as he fell to the floor, asleep.

Ulquiorra looked down at Ichigo as he slept, "Please don't tell me he's always like this." he said to Starrk.

Starrk put his hand to his face and shook his head, "Unfortunately, yes." he answered.

"Great. Our leader is a childish man."

Review plz. I need them! Do it! REVIEW, please.


	4. Chapter 4

I am SO sorry it took me so long to update. To make up for it, I'll try to update at least two more times before I refocus on anything else.

Starrk wearily opened his eyes to see the top of the hollow tree. He sat up and looked around to find that Ichigo and Ulquiorra were gone, and Lisa and Lilinette were still sleeping. He could feel Ichigo's all to obvious spiritual pressure above him, probably on top of the tree. He walked out of the tree and headed for the top. Pretty damn tall tree, it took him 10 minutes to reach the top. When he finally made it he saw Ichigo in the most ridiculous pose he ever saw.

Ichigo was standing on one hand and shading his eyes with his free hand. He was wriggling his feet in the air slowly to keep his balance, "What the hell are you doing?" Starrk asked, commenting on Ichigo's pose.

"I'm searching for the soul reapers." he said grinning.

"Why are you looking for them like that?" Starrk asked in an annoyed tone.

"It's more fun this way." Ichigo answered plainly.

"You're not gonna find anything searching like that, come on we have to actually look for them." Starrk said walking over to Ichigo and pushing him slightly, setting him off balance and knocking him over.

Ichigo grunted in annoyance and stood back up, "Fine, but we still have to get the others though." he pointed out and walked to the edge of the tree and jumping down.

Starrk watched him suddenly noticing something, "Please don't tell me he just jumped off of the tree." Ulquiorra said as if reading his mind.

There was a sudden explosion of dust and sand from the bottom of the tree, "Ow... maybe I didn't think that through." Ichigo's voice echoed from his crash site.

Ichigo popped his neck and knuckles as he walked into the tree and up to where Lisa and Lilinette slept and picked them up, throwing them over his shoulders. He walked back out to find Ulquiorra and Starrk. Starrk gave him a strange look, "Are you just gonna carry them around like that?" he asked jokingly.

"Yes." Ichigo said bluntly.

Starrk facepalmed and shook his head, "Of course you are." he said to himself. He looked over to a tall sand dune and walked over to it.

Ichigo and Ulquiorra followed as he reached the top and looked over the vast desert land that they called home, "It will take a long time to search the entire desert Ichigo. What makes you think we'll actually have a chance of finding these soul reapers?" Ulqiuorra asked.

"What makes you think we don't Ulquiorra?" Ichigo countered. Ulquiorra simply looked away in defeat, "And another thing," Ichigo continued, "Why have you failed to tell me of your second Resurreccion?"

Ulquiorra was wide-eyed with surprise, "How could you know that?" he asked.

"Simple," Ichigo responded, "your third layer of spirit pressure."

"What?" he asked in response.

"I can sense a person's, hollow's, or soul reaper's spirit pressure a close range." he explained, "I have found a way to divide it into layers. Each layer represents a soul's form. Human's have only one layer, along with weaker soul reapers and normal hollows. Arrancar have two and soul reapers with shikai have two. Soul reapers with bankai have three. You, unlike other hollows have three, meaning you have a second Resurreccion."

Ulquiorra simply stared in amazement, "You surprise me every minute I know you, Ichigo." he said plainly

"Don't feel left out, for I have developed a fourth layer." Ichigo stated, "Though I prefer not to show any of my resurreccions, Lisa and I had a too close experience with that once."

Lisa suddenly popped up and kicked Ichigo in the back of the head, causing him to drop Lilinette, "Don't ever use use your Resurreccion near me AGAIN!" she screeched hiding behind Starrk.

"HUH?! What? What happened?" Lilinette yawned from the ground.

"I guess Lisa remembers that all too well." Ichigo said weakly rubbing the back of his head as he pushed himself off the ground. He wiped the sand off of himself before he placed a hand on Lisa's shoulder, "Don't worry. I won't let it happen again." he assured her as he turned around and began walking.

Ulquiorra walked next to Lisa, seeing her terrified expression, "Why do you fear Ichigo's Resurreccion?" he asked.

Lisa shot a pitying look at him, "Because you haven't seen horror until you've seen it. But at the same time, you haven't lived until you've seen it and survived either. And the worst part is... I haven't even seen his final Resurreccion." she said shuddering intensely.

"I see." Ulquiorra said, "Then that means that under his childish shell is a walking horror. Perhaps he will take us further than I first thought." he said continuing to follow Ichigo.

Ichigo stopped in his tracks and stared into the desert, as if he were searching for something. He suddenly looked to his right and began running, "Three spiritual pressures, two pretty strong, but the third is insanely powerful." he said laughing excitedly as he ran.

"I said perhaps didn't I?" Ulquiorra asked as he ran with Ichigo. Now that he was focusing, he could feel the spiritual pressures too.

Ichigo suddenly began glowing purple and went in a burst of speed that lead miles ahead of the others, "What the...? How is that possible? Its faster than anything I've ever seen." Starrk said trying to keep an eye on Ichigo as he disappeared over the horizon.

"That's a small taste of his Resurreccion." Lisa said suddenly, "But his speed is even more amazing in his actual Resurreccion. Its one of the terrifying things about it."

The group began using sonido to catch up with him as fast as they could. After about a half an our they caught up enough to find that he was sitting on top of a dune. He turned to view them and smiled, "Its about time, I've been waiting for a while." he said standing up.

He looked down the hill and pointed to a turquoise haired man and a green haired woman at the bottom. Getting a closer look, Ulquiorra noticed that the man had a black six tattooed on his lower left back and the woman had a similar tattoo of a three on her lower back, "Ichigo, what do you think those tattoos are for?" he asked.

Ichigo looked at the two hollows, "Hmm... maybe they're like us, in a family of some sort." he said as he stood and sonidoed behind the two and gave them a friendly hug around their necks, "And who might you two be?" he asked, causing the man to gasp and jump away, and the woman to shriek and punch Ichigo in the face.

"AAAAH!" she shrieked again and jumped behind the man.

"Settle down, Nel." the man said looking at Ichigo, "Who the hell are you?" he asked with a grimace.

"I could ask you the same question. Hmm... Nel, huh?" Ichigo said grinning at the two as Nel peeked from behind the man.

"Grimmjow, who is that man?" Nel asked shyly.

Ichigo put out is and smiled at the girl, "My name is Ichigo." he said happily.

Nel looked at him confusedly, "Itsygo?"

"Ichigo." he corrected.

"Itsygo?"

"Ichigo."

"Itsygo?"

"Close enough!" he exclaimed hiding the annoyance in his voice.

Nel nervously came from behind Grimmjow and shook Ichigo's hand and smiled. Back on top of the hill, Lisa noticed that Ulquiorra was looking and scanning carefully around the area, "What's wrong Ulqui?" she asked.

"I... wait, did you just call me Ulqui?" he asked. She nodded in response, "Why?"

"Because I'm tired of saying your whole name. Now what's wrong?" she asked again.

"Well," he said, "Ichigo said that there were three spiritual pressures. There are only two people down there. So were is the third?" he finished as a voice shouted at them from the bottom of the dune.

"Hey! Just who the hell are _you_ people?" Grimmjow shouted at the group, "You know what? I don't care. You," he said pointing at Ichigo, "you're the strongest of them all, right?"

"I guess so." Ichigo grinned.

"I like strong people. I always get the chance to kill them!" Grimmjow said as he charged at Ichigo and swung his sword at him. He flew past Ichigo and looked back to see how much damage he did. Ichigo was gone, "What the...?"

"Excuse me." a voice said. Grimmjow shot a look toward the voice to see that Ichigo was standing behind him. He jumped back to create distance and noticed that Ichigo's sword was still sheathed.

"Draw your damn sword, and take this fight seriously." Grimmjow yelled angrily. He took aim and fired a cero at Ichigo. Once again, he disappeared.

"My turn." Ichigo said from behind Grimmjow. He glowed and aura of purple and disappeared, and reappeared on the opposite side of the arrancar. Grimmjow bent over and held his stomach in pain. Ichigo had given him a powerful punch to the stomach. Ichigo disappeared again and Grimmjow arched backward. Ichigo continued to disappear and reappear, delivering powerful punches and kicks every time.

By the time he was finished, Grimmjow was a bloody pulp lying on the ground, "Damn you." he said as he tried to force himself up.

"Had enough?"

"Fuck you." he responded as he activated his Resurreccion. Sand was launched into the air. Grimmjow charged at Ichigo once again before it could clear and slashed Ichigo's arm. He grinned in greatfulness that he was able to get a hit only to see that his coat had four cat-like cuts on it, but his arm itself didn't have a scratch on it. He grimaced and slashed Ichigo again. Nothing. He jumped back and pointed his elbow at him and fired spikes at him. They pierced his coat but, once again, left his body unharmed. Grimmjow dropped to his knees and started punching the ground, "Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit!" he shouted with each hit.

Once he stopped, Ichigo asked, "Are you done with your little hissy fit?"

"I can't finish this fight, that's all too clear now. So that means you have to kill me!" Grimmjow shouted.

"Are you sure? I could just..."

"DO IT!" he shouted frustratedly.

Ichigo gave an upset sigh, "Alright..." he said aiming his finger at the arrancar and charging a purple cero. The cero got larger and larger, causing Nel to gasp.

"NO!" Nel cried, "You can't kill him!" Ichigo's eyes were wide as he quickly aimed his finger at the sky, firing the immense cero that minisculed the area around them, just reaching the horizon with the edges.

"Geez, I thought I thought I was actually gonna have to kill him!" he yelled excitedly.

"Excellent." a voice said out of nowhere, "I thought I was going to have to replace my rank six espada."

Everyone looked to the top of a nearby dune to see a tall man with brown hair and a white coat with a pink sash on his waist, "Well, good to see you too, Aizen. Is this the guy you've been looking for?" Grimmjow asked and pointed a Ichigo.

"Why, yes it is indeed Grimmjow. And it seems he's brought friends, and powerful ones at that." Aizen reponded. He began putting his spiritual pressure on Ichigo and his group. Aizen studdied their reactions carefully, being surprised that Ichigo was unaffected, "Hmm... Interesting."

Aizen flash stepped down to Ichigo, "And you are?" he asked.

"I am Sosuke Aizen, and I am creating an army to destroy the soul society and the soul reapers and assassinate the Spirit King." I have been searching for you for a long time..." he responded.

"Ichigo Kurosaki. And you're a soul reaper too, so why attack your own kind?" Ichigo asked.

Aizen nodded, "That is of no concern right now. Now that I have found you, I will say that you and your friends may be of great use to me. Would mind if I asked you to join my army?" he said putting out a hand.

Ichigo gave a big smile and grabbed Aizen's hand and shook it as hard as he could, "Of course we'd like to join, I mean there's nothing else to do out here."

"Excellent, follow me." Aizen said as he began walking toward the moon.

"You know you just volunteered us into a stranger's army, right?" Lisa asked, noticing that Ichigo had a strange look in his eye, "What's on you're mind?" she asked instinctively.

Ichigo regained his senses and broke his stare and fixed his eyes on Lisa, "Nothing," he said with his all-to-familiar lying voice, "just Deja Vu, that's all." he said as he followed Aizen through the empty wasteland.


	5. Chapter 5

They had walked with the Soul Reaper for five hours, and there was no building in sight. "Come on! How long to we have to walk?" Ichigo complained as he put his hands behind his head.

"It is a long walk" Aizen said still walking straight ahead, "but trust me, it will all be worth it once we get there."

"It better be. This is boring as hell." Ichigo continued.

"Will you stop whining? It's annoying." Lisa said failing to hide the anger in her voice.

Ulquiorra simply kept quiet and listened to their bickering. "Ulquiorra." Starrk said suddenly, "How about you? Are you getting a weird vibe from this guy?" he asked.

"I don't care. However, I can honestly say that I'd sooner follow Ichigo than him." he responded pointing at the man in question.

Grimmjow hurriedly walked up to Aizen and whispered in his ear, "Aizen, are you really going to let him join us? I don't think he's a strong as you think."

Aizen stopped mid-footstep and looked at him with dagger eyes, "I'm not going to let your insecurities prohibit me from adding a new member to the espadas." he said before continuing their walk.

Lisa stopped next to Grimmjow and grinned, "Kitty got in trouble." she said before laughing.

Grimmjow grimaced at her and ran up behind her, "I'll show you!" he said before grabbing her throat and slamming her to the ground. He drew back his arm and slamming his fist into her stomach. Ichigo's eyes widened as he dashed over to them and grabbed Grimmjow's arm while he was drawing it back for a second blow.

Grimmjow looked back just as Ichigo drew his Zanpakuto. Ichigo bloodlustedly sliced Grimmjow's arm off and let it fall to the ground. Grimmjow screamed in pain and Nel stared in horror as Ichigo picked his arm up and mercilessly beat him with it. Everyone stood and watched as he hit him again and again and again, Lilinette cracked a smile while she watched. Lisa finally stopped him mid-swing, "Enough, Ichigo." she ordered. He let out light gasps of air trying to catch his breath.

"Fantastic. Now I have to replace my number 6 espada." Aizen said with more joy than disappointment.

Grimmjow looked up at his attacker to see, even if for just a split second, his eyes fading from red to their normal brown color. Aizen stood and watched though he wasn't too surprised. He stared a Ichigo's Zanpakuto with immense interest. Starrk looked down at Lilinette, "Did you really think that was funny?" he asked.

Lilinette looked up at him slightly surprised. "Well yeah. He just pummeled him with his own arm, how can you not at least grin at that?" she said in response. Starrk merely rolled his eyes.

Nel angrily ran toward Ichigo with tears in her eyes and started feebly punching him in the chest. "Why'd you do that to Grimmjow?!" she yelled.

"That sword of your's," Aizen said suddenly, causing Nel stop punching Ichigo, "it appears so normal, but... something tells me it isn't." he said running his thumb and fingers down his chin.

Ichigo stood and looked over to him holding up his Zanpakuto. "You mean this thing?" he asked. Aizen nodded, "Well compared to your's and everyone else's Zanpakutos, I guess you'd be right then." he said while he turned his sword sideways so the broad side could be seen. "Reveal yourself Diablos." he said causing two more blades to appear from behind the first, each one longer than the last. Everyone stared at the odd sword. "It seems like it's merely one Zanpakuto, but really it's three in one."

Aizen looked at it with increased interest, "Three in one? Interesting. Would you mind naming off your Zanpakutos?" he asked.

Ichigo nodded and retracted the other two blades to show one, "Demonio," he retracted that blade and showed another with black writing in an unknown language, "Angel Oscuro," he showed the final blade, which had a blood red hue and an almost evil aura, "Diablo."

Aizen admired the blades one by one as the were shown. Lisa stared at them with fear filled eyes. "Let's continue our walk. It's a long way to reach our destination." Aizen ordered. Everyone nodded and started walking, but Lisa still stood and stared ar Ichigo's Zanpakutos until he sheathed it.

"I wonder..." Lisa spun to her left toward the voice. "You care a great deal for him, but you hate his Zanpakuto." Ulquiorra said.

"So? It doesn't mean I hate him." she declared, brushing aside her blush.

"A Vasto Lorde's Zanpakuto is a manefestation of what the were before they became what they are now. In a technical sense, you do hate him, but also love him." Ulquiorra shot back.

"What? No, no, no, no, no, no! I don't love him, love him. I only love him like a brother, heh heh heh." she blurted.

Ulquiorra stared at her for a moment. "Whatever your relationship with him, you have to choose. Either you love him, and will brush aside your hatred for his former self, or you will avoid him and his Zanpakuto." he said before following everyone else.

_"Former self? That makes no sense. He was never so... evil, except for when he was using his resurreccion."_ she thought to herself before catching up with everyone.

When she got to them, she heard that they were in the middle of a conversation about why Aizen had to replace Grimmjow. "Since he has sustained this mortal wound, he is no longer of any use to me or my army." Aizen finished.

Ichigo gave an, "Oh." after he was through talking. "So how many other Arrancar have you recruited?" he asked curiously.

Aizen thought for a moment, "I've been recruiting the strongest hollows I can find for a while, but I would estimate 21." he answered before looking at Grimmjow, "But now I guess it's back to 20."

Out of boredom, Ichigo started humming a tune he found amusing. Lisa, walking right next to him, sighed after his little song became annoying, though she kept it to herself. Lilinette cringed at the aweful sound of him humming. Ichigo stopped in his tracks and stared straight ahead, still humming. "Ichigo? What's wrong." Lisa asked with a confused look on her face.

"I can sense all of them." he said, _still_ humming.

"What... do you mean?" she asked forcing back her annoyance turned anger.

"I can feel each and every one of the Arrancars that he's recruited. They're close, I'd say about three miles from here." he said before continuing humming.

"OH MY FUCKING GOD! WILL YOU STOP HUMMING?!" Lisa shouted grabbing his shoulders and shaking him.

Ichigo, along with everbody else, stared at her. He pretended to zip his lips shut, lock them and throw away the key. Lilinette grinned and said, "You beat me to it."

She let go of Ichigo and continued walking, and then ran right into Aizen. She gasped in surprise and backed away from him. "Before we continue on, this seemed like the perfect distance from Las Noches for you to display your power." he said.

Ichigo crossed his arms and stared at him. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"It means that I would like for you all to display your Resurreccion for me. It is for observational reasons, so I can better estimate what rank you deserve." he explained.

"Okay, then..." Starrk walked up and called Lilinette over. He put his hand on her head and shouted, "Kickabout, Los Lobos!" he shouted. A mix of sand and smoke surrounded him, and revealed that he now had two pistols, gray fur on his arms and legs, and an eye patch on his left eye.

Ichigo blinked in surprise that Lilinette was gone. "Alright, we're done, who's up next?" said a voice.

Lisa almost jumped when she realized it was Starrk's pistols. "Did... those just... talk? Wait... Lilinette?" she asked timidly.

"Damn right! Now it's your turn, Ulquiorra!" the pistol shouted.

Ulquiorra concurred and drew his Zanpakuto and said, "Imprison, Murcielago." while making a strange gesture with it, causing a explosion of black and green reiatsu. Everyone was blinded for a moment. When everything cleared, Ulquiorra had a full helmet with long horns on either side of it, and white bat-like wings. Black lines ran down each of his fingers and he had visibley thicker markings under his eyes, and longer hair.

Ichigo grinned in interest, wondering what Ulquiorra's second Resurreccion looked like. "Now it's your turn, Lisa." he said before patting her back.

She looked around before drawing her sword and saying, "Drain... Vampira."

Ichigo got excited and rubbed his hands together. "What's wrong with you?"

Ichigo turned to see Starrk's pistol talking to him. "That is... still weird. But in all the time I've known Lisa, I've never seen her Resurreccion." he said excitedly.

They returned their attention to Lisa, who suddenly had cuts all along her body. Ichigo gasped with worry as cuts appeared on her arms, legs and throat. Blood floated out of her wound and into the air. It surrounded her body until she couldn't be seen. She was surrounded by a blood orb that suddenly burst. Blood flew everywhere and soaked everyone watching. They covered their eyes to keep the red liquid out of them.

When the returned their attention, they saw that Lisa now had skin that was white as the moon, black lips, red irises, and four purple lines going down each side of her face just below her eyes. Her robes were now a large fur coat with red lines that resmbled lashes ran up and down the arms and back of it.

Ichigo was oddly impressed with her change in appearance. "Bravo!" Ichigo said suddenly, giving her a round of applause. Lisa rolled her eyes and blushed.

Ulquiorra turned to Ichigo and said, "Now its your turn, Ichigo."

Lisa froze with fear. Ichigo met her pleading eyes with his. Ichigo thought for a moment. He walked toward her and put his hand on her shoulder. She looked at him and tried to utter something, but was interrupted when Ichigo reached behind her and opened a garganta. "Sorry, Lisa." he said in a surprisingly happy voice and pushed her into it before closing it behind her.

She landed on her back and sat up. She sat on an floor of spirit energy in an empty void. It was quiet. She looked around into the nothingness. Come to think of it, this was the first time she took the time to look around the empty dimension. There was a sudden feel of immense pressure. She knew that meant he started his release. She could remember the exact quote for the release of Angel Oscuro, his second release:

_"Bring purity through cruelty, peace through violence. Spread your wings, raise your blade, and slaughter the enemy, Angel Oscuro!"_

She almost remembered it as well as the time he first used it. Moonlight suddenly hit her eyes. She looked up to see Ichigo. He was panting from the effort it took to return to his normal form. She stepped out of the garganta and saw everyone wide-eyed, save for Aizen. Even Ulquiorra had a noticable sign of fear in his eye.

She was greatful he spared her the evil that resulted from his release, but felt bad that everyone else had to experience it. It was dead silent. Everyone silenced by fear and dread. He turned to everyone and said, "Well... what are we waiting for? Let's keep moving."

Lisa looked at the horrified faces. "So... how'd it go?" she asked sarcastically.

Ichigo gave a grin and replied, "I think it went pretty well." before adjusting the collar of his coat and walking toward the large dome-like building that suddenly became visible over the next dune.

Go ahead, try and give a guess at what Ichigo's Resurreccion looks like.


End file.
